Afterwards
by Special Circumstances
Summary: What happens when Ryoma returns from America? Will he remember the girl he loved so many years ago? Will that girl learn to love him back they way she did, or will everything end up in tears, broken hearts, and pain? RyoxSaku fic. [COMPLETE!]
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer- I do not own Prince of Tennis. Mr.Takeshi does.**

**Summary:What happens when Ryoma returns to America? Will he remember the girl he loved so many years ago? Will that girl learn to love him back they way she did, or will everything end up in tears, broken hearts, and pain? **

**By Special Circumstances**

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**_AFTERWARDS_**

Chapter 1

Ryoma, now on his way back to Japan in his private jet, had greatly matured from what he was five years ago. He was taller (thanks to Inui), and was much more handsome than when he was twelve. He had already gained fans from across the continent, and was a pro tennis star. Being on T.V was in his everyday life schedule. He was rich, popular, and just about anything any girl would want out of a guy. Ryoma had a nicely built six-pack, and his feline yellow eyes just became more and more breathtaking. Really, Ryoma hadn't changed much, he just became really hott. Ryoma never understood why he had so many girls (even some guys) stalking him. His hair was still dark with streams of green highlights. He kept that trademark smirk of his, and well, his attitude just stayed the same; prideful and cold.

The fact that Ryoma never had girlfriend was disturbing to the media. I mean, Ryoma got at least ten new confessions a day. Many people thought he was gay, so guys started to ask Ryoma out on dates. Ryoma, of course, ignored all of this because all he really cared about was tennis..tennis.. and more tennis.

As Ryoma was thinking about his stay in America, he came across the fact if he was ever going to get a girlfriend. He never really thought about it, but now that he was reading a magazine whose headline read: "Is Our Beloved Tennis Prince Gay or is he Bi?", Ryoma started to really think if he would ever love someone. Now that he really thought about girls, the only girl he actually spent time with for more than five minutes, was Ryuuzaki.

"_Wasn't she that really clumsy one?" he thought. _

Ryoma didn't remember why, but when he was back in Seigaku, he would always feel different around that girl. Every time he was close to her, or even just shot a glance at her, he would start to hyperventilate and his head would start to throb.

After all these years, Ryoma didn't remember what she looked like anymore. He didn't really remember anything about that girl; only that she was a klutz, she was directionally challenged, and she had these two freakishly long braids.

Thinking about old times, especially Ryuuzaki, and being in a plane didn't help much. Nor did eating the food, which he thought would taste better being in a private jet, but was proved wrong. Ryoma nearly puked all over himself, but resisted due to mere ego.

When the jet landed, Ryoma was relieved that he was finally back in his home country, but quickly ran in to the bathroom to hide when he saw all the reporters outside. He specifically told his manager NOT to tell anyone about his visit to Japan, but considering how big of a mouth his manager had, and all the stalkers he himself had, he guessed that someone must have spilled the beans.

Anyways, Ryoma quickly devised a plan to get out of the airport, without any interviews, called Momo, whom he called before he left to come pick him up. Momo said that he would bring the rest of the legendary Seigaku team so come welcome him.

Quickly, Ryoma dialed Momo's number:

_"Hello?"_

_"Momo? Its me, Ryoma."_

_"Oh my God!!! Ryoma! I can't believe it, your actually here, in Japan! Where are you, the whole gangs here to come get you._

_"Yea ,yea ok. Betsuni. Just listen up okay?"_

He heard the phone drop and lots of yelling.

"_I want to talk to O'chibi!!"_

_"Fshuuuu…"_

_"Ii data.."_

_"BURNING!! GIVE ME THE PHONE BABYYY!!!!!!"_

_"Come on guys, lets cooperate..maybe we can share….."_

_"I wonder how much he has improved, still…ooohh I got the phone."_

_"Hey!! Give it Fuji!"_

_"Everyone! 20 laps around the airport. NOW!. And Momoshiro, talk to Echizen."_

"Yup, same team," Ryoma thought.

Finally, Momo came back on the line, panting, "OK.."

_"Momo? You there?"_

_"Gomen, so what were you saying again?"_

_"Ok, well right now there are so many damned reporters outside, so I'm going to need you guys to help me get out without being spotted..K?_

"_It's your call Mr.popular."_

"_shut up.. ok so this is what we're going to do……"_

Sakuno put down the magazine she was currently reading, and sighed. She had found her love for fashion, and quit tennis, shortly after Ryoma left. Now, she was traveling the world, to attend _her_ fashion shows. Everyone loved her. Sakuno was a completely different person, compared to what she _was _five years ago. No longer was she so shy and clumsy, but open and confident in herself. In the midst of things, Sakuno had also developed a type of "tough skin". She wasn't as vulnerable, and learned to deal with her emotions much more efficiently. Not only had Sakuno changed on the inside, but on the outside as well. She had chopped of her braids, and let her auburn hair drape down on her shoulders. She had developed very nice curves and was considered beautiful in any man's eyes. Everytime she looked at you, her soft brown eyes would just cause anyone's heart to melt.

It had been a long morning, and Sakuno was getting ready to leave America. Yes, she was in America, but not for fun, for a fashion show. She was glad to hear all the wonderful comments, and had returned to her hotel when the show was over. Sakuno was already packed, so she just plopped down on her bed and flipped the TV on. Just then, Sakuno felt as if an arrow had shot at her heart, penetrating the barriers she tried so hard to put up.

On the TV, currently being interviewed, was none other than Echizen Ryoma; the boy she loved all through middle school. The boy that destroyed her so many times, but still managed to love him even more. All the years that Ryoma had went to America, Sakuno had decided to forget him completely. She wanted to rid herself of all the useless crap she always thought about him, and she really wanted to move on. She avoided all conversation about "japenese pro tennis star" and basically anything to do with tennis because in the end, the conversations would all turn to Ryoma. Sakuno never watched any of his games, for she couldn't stand seeing his face again, but now in America, she wasn't used to the TV channels, so when the TV turned on, she wasn't ready to embrace the impact.

All of a sudden, memories started to flow in to her mind, forcing the tears she had been holding back for so long to stream out of her eyes. Sakuno couldn't stand it any more…she was over him, wasn't she? For so long, she had hated him for being so mean towards her, for not even noticing her. She wanted to hit him so bad, but talked herself out of it. Then, Sakuno slapped herself for crying and for breaking down like that. She hated the damned guy..he could go to hell for all she cared.

"Baka Sakuno.." she said to herself. She couldn't let the old Sakuno come back, No, not after all those years of building the new one. Sakuno wouldn't give up, not now, not when she was strongest.

Sakuno turned off the TV and went to the airport to get ready to go back to Japan. Hopefully, she thought, I'll forget what just happened.

Sakuno called her grandma that she was getting ready to board, and told her the time she would have to come to pick her up.

"_I won't be coming to pick you up today, Sakuno."_

"_Hm? Why not? If not you, who is?"_

"_I don't know, I called Momoshiro. He said he would bring the whole team to the airport. Seems like they need to pick someone up too."_

"_Oh, Ok.."_

When Sakuno got off the airplane, and got her luggage, she began to search for the Seigaku team. Even though it had been five years, she legendary Seigaku team still stuck together, and nothing really changed about them. They also still played tennis, so they would be carrying their tennis bags around too.

Ok, Sakuno thought, Just look for a bunch of men with tennis bags.

Finally, Sakuno spotted them. But then, she also spotted an old man too. That must be the guy they were picking up; it was probably Momo's grandfather or something.

"_Hey! You guys!"_

Sakuno ran over to the Seigaku team.

"_Yo, Ryuuzaki."Momo called._

As Sakuno neared the men, she realized that something about the old man with them was awfully familiar. She also noticed that he had flinched a little when Momo said her name. She saw strands of dark hair sticking out of the top hat he was wearing. He was wearing sunglasses, so she couldn't see his eyes, but then she realized that he didn't have a wrinkle on his face. He had a cane, his back was arched, but he really didn't _look _like an old man. The old man noticed she was staring at him and smirked. That smirk. The smirk she remembered so clearly. The smirk she wanted to forget. The smirk who belonged to a certain someone she knew.

"R-Ryoma-kun?" for the first time in years, Sakuno started to stutter again.

"Long time no see, Ryuuzaki. Mada Mada Dane." The 'old' man said, smirking.

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**A/N- Sorry! I know its really short, but its only the first chapter. Plus this is my first fic..I'll try to upload chapter 2 ASAP. **

**Anyways, PLEASE REVIEW!!! i dont care if you critisize me, actually thats better, then i know what to improve on. **

**thanks!**

**-Special Circumstances**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N-Hey y'alls. I didn't think anyone would actually read the first chapter, but I got so many reviews! Thanks a ton!**

**Disclaimer-I don't own PoT.. yada yada.. Mr.Takeshi does.**

**Anyways, just wanted to say thank you. And to warn you that it will take me a while to upload new chapters, all thanks to school. Yea, it sux, but the damn teachers are like throwing books at us and my grades aren't doing too good either. Plus, I swim 5x a week..and (stupid asian parents) I get tutored by this wierd hippy lady. lol. **

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**Afterwards **

**Chapter 2**

"Shhhhh…" Kikumaru whispered.

"Yea, if you havn't noticed, he's undercover." Kaidoh hissed.

"WHOAA..wait a minute. Okay, breathe Sakuno, breathe." Sakuno took in a deep breath. "Alright, this must be a dream..I mean, I'm hallucinating, wait no..its the jet lag—.." Sakuno was cut off by Momo, who quickly covered her mouth.

"SHHHH…" everyone said and Ryoma just glared at her.

Quickly, Momo stuffed a rag in Sakuno's mouth and pushed her to Kawamura who picked Sakuno up, and ran her to the van. They were followed by Tezuka, who looked, well, he was expressionless, like always; Kaidoh, who seemed pissed for even bothering to come, but you could tell he was happy because now that Ryoma was back, he could play with Karupin. But of course, no body needed to know that. Momoshiro pushed Ryoma in a wheelchair, to make it look like Ryoma really was a helpless little old man and mainly to protect him from the reporters who were already suspicious when Sakuno said "Ryoma-kun"; Oishi, who as always, was very worried everyone would get run over by a car when they were crossing the street; Inui, who was carrying that notebook of his, and jotting down everyone's behaviors; and Fuji, with that mysterious I'm-planning-something grin on his face and closed eyes.

Finally, in the van Sakuno, tugged the rag out of her mouth and everyone let out a breath of relief. Then, all except Sakuno and Ryoma burst out laughing..even Tezuka and Kaidoh managed a little smile. Sakuno, being even more confused finally spoke up, "Ano.. do any of you know mind telling me what exactly is going on here?" she paused for a minute to figure out how she would ask her next question, "and Mr. Echizen, what are you doing back in Japan?"

Everyone burst out laughing again, but Ryoma just stared at Sakuno, "Thanks for the welcome back Ryuuzaki…" he said sarcastically.

"Well," Sakuno asked impatiently, she wanted answers now.

"Well, you see, when I came back to Japan, there were a bunch of reporters in my way and I didn't want to talk to them, so I called Momo for some help." Ryoma stopped, realizing Sakuno really wasn't listening. Instead, she was just staring at nothing, still shocked at how Ryoma had just…appeared.

"You okay?" Ryoma asked.

"What?" Sakuno snapped out of her trance, "Oh. Heh. I'm fine. Just a little airsick.."

The rest of the ride, Sakuno was silent. All the former regulars were chatting about everything that had happened in the five years Ryoma was gone. Sakuno was surprised at how the regulars adjusted with Ryoma's return so easily. They talked, almost as if he never left. Sakuno just sat there, reading her "Teen Vogue" magazine, pretending to be interested in it. She rarely looked up because if she did, she would make eye contact with Ryoma, who was constantly staring at her.

"Hey! I have an idea! Lets all go to Taka-san's place for dinner!!!" Kikumaru jumped around the van happily, literally.

"Yea, that would be a good idea." Kawamura said, scratching his head.

"Yay!! Then we can call it the 'Welcome Back O'chibi and Ryuuzaki' Party!" Kikumaru had a really excited look on his face, like a child going to a carnival.

"Ahem." Sakuno cleared her throat. "What if I don't want to go?"

"But you have to!" Kikumaru whined.

"Yeah, do it for Echizen." Momo teased.

Ryoma jerked a little.

"What if I don't want to?" Sakuno, a little irritated at Momo's comment, tried to stay calm from ripping his eyeballs out.

"Well, there is a 90 chance you really do want to go, and there is a 95.9 chance you don't want to go because Echizen is going to be there." Inui informed.

"Excuse me?!" Sakuno, now very irritated said. Back in Seigaku days, everyone knew she had a crush on Ryoma, but she was over him now. _Way_ over him. She'd thought that they would've figured that out by now, but since they kept on persisting in teasing her, thinking she still liked Ryoma, Sakuno decided to tell them how she really felt, hopefully they'll remember this time.. _"Well, here goes nothing_,"

"Inui, when did your calculations start calculating human emotions?? Let me tell you buddy, I was over _him_ years ago!" Sakuno pointed at Ryoma, then glared at the rest of the team. "In fact, why don't you all listen up because this goes for all of you.." Sakuno took in a deep breath, and finally let it out, "I HATE ECHIZEN RYOMA!!" she screamed it so loud that she swore the van had shook.

Everyone was speechless, even Kikumaru. Sure, they knew Sakuno had changed, except for Ryoma, but they didn't know that she could scream like that.

_Woah_, Sakuno thought, _That was some serious PMS-ing. _But then she felt relieved to have finally screamed that to someone other than herself. Then, Sakuno found the courage to steal a glance at Ryoma. He was staring at her, he looked confused and shocked at the same time, but most of all, Sakuno saw that he seemed to look hurt from her words.

At this, Sakuno fainted, and all she remembered seeing were the pair of feline eyes, staring at her, asking her "Why.."

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Sakuno woke up in a dark room, on a bed with a warm towel on her head.

_Ow.._ she thought, rubbing her temples. _Where am I? _

Then Sakuno remembered. She remembered what had happened when she got off the airplane. _Oh my god… Ryoma. _She stepped off the bed and stood up to think for a minute. She told Ryoma she hated him, actually she told the whole team. _Isn't that a good thing?_ After all those years, Sakuno finally got it out of her system, but why did she fell so full of regret? Then, she remembered her barriers. It had taken so long to get those 'built', so long to change herself; to move on. But now, now that she was faced with the real thing, she felt so helpless. She wanted to cry, but restrained herself from doing anything the _old_ Sakuno would do.

Silently, Sakuno walked out of her bedroom and down the stairs. She found her self in the sushi restaurant. "D_amn, I told them I didn't want to come."_ Sakuno looked around to see that everyone was asleep. "_Probably drunk." _Then Sakuno noticed that Tezuka was asleep too. "_That's odd." _she thought. Sakuno realized that there were only eight people in the room, and that one was missing, the one she wished she had never met.

Suddenly, Sakuno heard a toilet flush and prayed that it wasn't Ryoma, but when had Sakuno's prayers ever come true? Sakuno turned around and saw a pair feline eyes, staring at her.

"Ryoma…" she gasped, and felt like fainting again, actually she kinda _wished _she could faint again.

"Do you want to go for a walk or something?" He asked.

Sakuno snapped back to her normal self, "That'd be nice."

Ryoma walked past her through the door and Sakuno followed. As they came out, the warm summer breeze blew into Sakuno's face. It was dark, and Sakuno could see clouds in the sky, hiding the bright moon from her view. Then, Sakuno felt eyes staring at her, so she turned to see Ryoma's face, only a few inches away from her own. She backed away a little.

"You've changed.." he said, "A lot."

"Yeah? Glad you noticed." Sakuno replied carelessly.

Ryoma frowned a little. "Your cut your hair." He stated plainly.

Sakuno turned to him, "Yup."

Then, out of nowhere, Ryoma asked, "Why do you hate me?"

Sakuno froze at this. She didn't want to think about her feelings right now. But, considering the fact the Ryoma was waiting for an answer, she had to tell him. No matter how stupid it came out, she couldn't hide from him forever, now could she? Still, just for the fun of it, Sakuno decided to tell Ryoma in questions.

"Why do _you _hate _me_?" she asked.

Ryoma arched an eyebrow, "Huh?"

"Well, don't you hate me? I mean in Seigaku, it sure seemed like you did."

"It did?" Ryoma was playing dumb, asking stupid questions to get the interrogator aggravated. He did this all the time with reporters. But, Sakuno was different.

"And… what is that supposed to mean?" Sakuno asked. She didn't know if "it did?" mean he really hated her, or if he wasn't aware of what he was doing, or.. maybe, he li-, nah, that's impossible, she thought. And, why do I even care? I hate him. He broke my heart once and I'm _not _letting him do it again.

Ryoma was silent for a minute and finally spoke up, "I'm sorry" he murmured.

Sakuno stopped again. They had reached the entrance gates of Seigaku. "Sorry? For what?" but before Ryoma could answer, Sakuno pushed the gates open and walked in. She never thought she would actually come back to this place, not with all those painful memories. But, now that the memory was with her, in fact, standing only a few feet away from her, Sakuno found the courage to face them.

"I haven't been in here for so long…" she said, forgetting about her question earlier.

"Yeah, it hasn't changed." Ryoma said, then remembering Sakuno's question. "About your question earlier. I'm sorry…for hating you."

Sakuno, shocked, bent down to pick up a stone. She rubbed its smooth surface with her fingertips, and for that split second, she wanted to chuck it at Ryoma's face. "For hating me? Ha! Real funny Ryoma, I wouldn't have expected that from a tennis prince, especially you." And, having said that, she threw the rock at Ryoma's head, purposely missing it so she hit the tree behind him instead. Then, when Sakuno couldn't hold it in any longer, she out of the school, leaving Ryoma standing there, numb.

­­­

Ryoma was dumbfounded. He didn't know what he did wrong, or why Sakuno was so angry. He knew she meant to hit his face with that rock, but changed her mind. Still, Ryoma was confused as to why she would want to hurt him in the first place.

When Ryoma entered in through the gates of Seigaku, memories of the past flowed in to his mind. He remembered Sakuno was at every single one of his games, how she had always blushed and stuttered around him. Then he thought about the Sakuno now.

Ryoma sighed, "Boy, she really has changed, hasn't she?"

**FLASHBACK**

"Now you've really done it Echizen." Kaidoh hissed.

"What did I do?" Ryoma asked.

"You shouldn't be blaming him, I mean its our fault too. At least according to Ryuuzaki.." Oishi was worried, of course, but now that Sakuno had fainted, he was freaking out.

"Actually, it is O'chibi's fault!!" Kikumaru pointed at Ryoma. "He should've told Ryuuzaki his true feelings."

"What the hell…Kikumaru." Ryoma murmured.

"Tsk. Tsk." Momo said. "The only reason Ryuuzaki is like this is because you never told her that you liked her."

"I don't like her." Ryoma stated.

"Why, Echizen, we all know that you did, and still do." Fuji smiled.

"Okay, maybe I _did_ and just don't remember, but that doesn't mean I still _do." _Ryoma admitted he liked her in the past, but he really didn't know whether or not he did or not. He didn't want to think about his past at the moment either, so he just assumed his sempais knew what they were talking about…

Fuji smiled again, like he had achieved something by having Ryoma admit a part of his feelings for Sakuno.

"Then explain why you never got a girlfriend in America…" Momoshiro said, "I read on the news that you got like 10 new confessions every week, and some of them were quite hott too. I'd totally go on a date with at least one of them, but you rejected them you dumbass. Unless… not that there's anything wrong with it, but are you by any chance _gay?_"

Ryoma glared at Momo. He knew he was just teasing him, but honestly, gay? If he had anything to say about it, _they_ were the gay ones, not him.

"O'chibi can't be gay!! He _has_ to like Ryuuzaki." Kikumaru shook the living day lights out of Ryoma. "She's done soo much for you, even if she says she hates you, shes just lying!! Shes changed soo much, and all because of O'chibi!" Kikumaru was screaming hysterically now.

Ryoma stood up, and moved away from Kikumaru, just to be safe. He looked at his teammates, who were currently in the restaurant eating sushi that Kawamura was serving. "My fault? What the hell did I do?"

"Echizen?" Kawamura finally decided to speak up. "I know this might not be much help, but I just wanted to tell you that Ryuuzaki didn't like you…" he paused because Fuji started to take a racket out of his bag and handed it to Kawamura. "What's th—BURRNING BABBYY!! RYUUZKI DIDN'T LIKE YOU, SHE LOVED YOU, YOU STUPID ASS HOLE!" then the racket slipped out of Kawamura's sweaty grip. "I-I- G-Gomen Echizen."

Ryoma just stood there, not knowing what to say. All of a sudden, he had an urge to throw-up again. "stupid jet.." he said cursing under his breath and ran to the bathroom.

**END FLASHBACK**

She had changed for him? But why? He never asked her to, though he had to admit, he liked it better that Ryuuzaki wasn't stuttering anymore. Ryoma replayed his memories of Ryuuzaki many times, and finally realized why she hated him so much. Ryoma realized how arrogant he was to her and how he ignored all of her good intentions. The deeper Ryoma searched, the more he began to understand. Back in Seigaku days, the reason why he felt so odd around Ryuuzaki was because _he liked her._ And now, she was in his life again, and he realized that he liked her again. But this time, now that he _knew_ he liked her, she _hated _him.

"Baka.." he thought. "How come when I didn't know I liked her, she liked, no, loved me, and now that I know I like her, she hates my guts? Girls are so confusing" Ryoma layed down beside a tree and began drifting off to sleep, then suddenly woke up when a drop of water fell on to head. He looked up and saw that gray clouds began to cover the sky, and slowly, rain drizzled down, but got harder and harder, and soon, Ryoma was soaked from the water that was pouring down on to his body.

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**A/N- PLEASE REVIEW!! **

**and i hope you like this chapter.**

.**now REVIEW.**

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	3. Chapter 3

**A/N- hey. I'm sorry it took m soo long to update. Really..I am. But, I hope you all still have faith in me and continue reading. I'm trying my hardest for this fic...I hope you all approve of it, being the first one i actually atempted to type. Also, i'm sorry about the length of all of the chapters. I just can't think of anything else to write. I guess i have really bad cases of writer's block. lol**

**Disclaimer- PoT does not belong to me. **

**Well, lets get started then... O, btw... PLEASE REVIEW. D**

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CHAPTER 3

Tears started to stream down Sakuno's face as she sat on a bench in a park.

Why can't I face him? What happened to hating him? To forgetting him?

Five years! She scolded herself. She had forgotten about him and had lived all her days, well, 'Ryoma-free'. Now, it had only been a few hours, and she had already been withered down to this point.

"I Hate You!" She cried to the sky. Then, she felt raindrops start to trickle on to her skin. Soon, it felt as if the heavens were _trying _to drown her, and Sakuno was soaked to the bone. Her thin, pink T-shirt and floral print skirt clung to her skin, sticky and hard. Goosebumps started to appear and Sakuno's teeth were chattering. Shivering, Sakuno reminded herself of how much she hated Ryoma, but for some reason, the more she reminded herself, the harder her tears poured.

Sakuno stood up, ready to bang her head against the fence, but ended up having only enough strength to lean against it. She pulled herself together, and wiped her hands across her face. The icy tears met her palm, as she tried to stop their fall. Her face instantly became wet again, but not from tears, from the rain striking at her skin. Finally, Sakuno had stopped crying, but this didn't make her feel any better.

Sakuno came to a conclusion that all she needed to do was rebuild those barriers and never look at Ryoma again.

Never. _Ever_.

Then Sakuno realized how impossible that was, because now that Ryoma was back in Japan, it would be harder to avoid him. Also, after what just happened today, how was she going to rebuild herself. The only thing those damned barriers had done for her was block her from listening to her heart.

All those years, Sakuno had been at war with herself. Each time, she won by excuse, hiding, and lies. Now that she had lost, her mind was at piece and her heart finally got its message to her. That message was that, in truth, she didn't hate Ryoma. In fact, after all these years, she had never changed one damn bit. Sakuno was just afraid that Ryoma, would once again, break her fragile heart, and cause her even more depression.

"Dumbass," she thought.

Why couldn't she understand that after all the other boyfriends she had dated, they only reason she broke up with them was because she never loved them.

Sakuno felt her body begin to slide from the slipperiness caused by the rain on the fence. To keep herself from falling, Sakuno had to plant her shoes into the ground. Then, she realized that she wasn't wearing any shoes. Suddenly, she remembered, she had kicked off her _flipflops_ on the way to the park. Sakuno tried to take deep breaths to calm herself down. Unfortunately, all she ended up doing was suffocate herself.

Slowly, Sakuno's eyes began to close, and she collapsed to the ground. Mud splattered upward from her feet, which flung out of the ground, and landed on her bare arms. Though before Sakuno reached the floor, her head banged across the bench. Crimson blood began to trickle down the face of the now unconscious Sakuno.

Little by little, the wheels in Sakuno's mind began to turn. As the blood started to thicken, all the hatred and hurt she had been feeling for five years, was washed away with the rain.

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"Do you think it worked?" Kikumaru asked, jumping from his seat. 

"I still don't think it was a good idea…to trick them like that." Oishi stated.

"Nah. We were helping them. It's so obvious they still like each other. I mean, the way they act, it says so here in my Book About Boy/Girl Relationships." Momo said, holding up the book.

"Uhm, where did you get that…" Kaidoh asked suspiciously.

"I um bought it for uh Echizen and Ryuuzaki. At the uhh a-airport. You know… to help them." Momo stuttered nervously. His face had turned a few shades of red in the process.

"Baka." Kaidoh replied.

"What did you say, Viper?!"

"You heard what I said, pervert."

"Do you want to take this outside?"

"20 laps!"

Kaidoh and Momo turned to Tezuka.

"He starte-"

"30 laps!"

"Okay! Okay!"

Together, Kaidoh and Momo shoved each other out the door. They sprinted around the sushi restaurant, and came back, to find Kawamura delivering a whole new batch of sushi. Momo dived for the table, while Kaidoh gave him a murderous glare.

Suddenly, Inui looked up from his notebook and announced, "There is a 95.5 percent chance that Echizen and Ryuuzaki's walk is going to end up in a disaster."

"I hope their alright…" Kawamura said, scratching his head. Fuji slipped a racket into his hand , and all of a sudden, "GAHHH! WHO CARES?! AS LONG AS HE IS TALKING TO RYUUZAKI!!…" The racket slipped out of his hand from his sweaty grip. "Erm.. I h-hope they get reunited."

"Taka-san is right." Fuji replied, after putting the racket back into his bag.

"Poor O'Chibi!! He really really really really likes Ryuuzaki…!" Kikumaru said in his childish voice.

"So young, so young. I wish I loved a girl like that." Momo sighed.

"I just hope Inui's prediction is wrong…that, their okay." Oishi looked nervous and stressed from worrying so much.

'Hoi. Hoi. Don't worry Oishi. I'm sure O'Chibi will work something out."

"That's the problem." Oishi replied.

"Well, at least the first step went smoothly. Now, it is all up to the two protagonists of our little plan to do their magic." Fuji continued, "unless, Ryuuzaki gets really pissed and decides to take out a knife and stab Echizen's eyeballs out…"

"What was that Fuji?" Oishi asked.

"Oh. Nothing." Fuji replied simply.

"Everyone look!" Kikumaru was pointing towards the window. "Its raining and those two still aren't here!" Kikumaru started to spaz out and ended up knocking over three stools and crashing a few plates.

"C-calm down…" Momo stared wide-eyed. _Note to self, he thought, stay away from Kikumaru when he is frustrated. _

"The rain is pouring down even harder now…" Kawamura stated.

"I hope their alright." Oishi began to worry again.

"Hey you guys, it says here in my book that when the girl is cold, the boy should drape his jacket over her." Momo informed, showing the page to everyone. "Maybe, instead of draping his jacket over her from the cold, Echizen will shelter Ryuuzaki from the rain with the jacket! It says here that it's a _very _romantic gesture…" Momo looked up from his book again. Faces that read "weirdo" were clearly written on each person's face. A pen being clicked was heard, and Inui began to write down new data.

Then, finally Kaidoh spoke up. "Che. Echizen would never do something like that."

"What was that?!" Momo glared at Kaidoh. "Are you doubting our Echizen?"

"_OUR?_"

"SHUT UP!" Tezuka commanded.

The room came to an eerie silence. Everyone was either amazed by Tezuka's sudden outburst, or, if they were like Inui, they were furiously scratching data into their notebook.

Kawamura broke the silence. "Lets all just sit down and wait. They're both strong people. I think it will be okay." He paused, then began walking towards the kitchen, "I'll go pour some tea…"

"He's right. I don't think Echizen and Ryuuzaki are our business anymore…"Kikumaru said sadly, for he wanted to continue plotting plans for Echizen and Ryuuzaki. Finally, he had said something that was right. Echizen and Ryuuzaki were definitely _not _their business anymore.

* * *

"Shit." Ryoma cursed under his breath. "Stupid rain." 

Ryoma was now thoroughly drenched. His cap, well it drooped down onto his face, dripping water. Ryoma's oh-so fancy jacket was waterproof. As the rain hit the material, it just drizzled down, leaving the upper portion of Ryoma dry. However, Ryoma lower portion was in a horrible state. Ryoma's khakis were drenched and they started to loosen, drooping low enough to see a chunk of Ryoma's boxers.

"Lucky," he thought. "At least I still have this jacket to cover everything."

All of a sudden, a thought hit Ryoma. "Ryuuzaki." he murmured.

Then, a million questions followed.

"Where is she? Is she okay? Did she bring a jacket? Is she cold? What if she is in danger? W-what if she's being raped…o-or molested!!"

Ryoma looked around, but the rain was blocking his view. "I have to find her." he thought.

Ryoma dashed out of the school, almost tripping over a few rocks. He began to think up a list of everywhere Ryuuzki could have gone to. _Home? Restaurant? Friend's house? Store? _Ryoma didn't know where he was going, but after what seemed like forever, Ryoma began to make out a few lights, despite the rain. However, all Ryoma could see was a glow, but as he came closer, he could see a swing-set. _A Park? _he thought.

Not being able to see anything, Ryoma cried out, "RYUUZKI!!"

No reply.

"Where is she?" he thought, and decided to go back to the restaurant to check if Ryuuzaki was there. He found a path that was lit by lights, so he ran down it, thinking it was the direction to the resturant.

He came across a bench, and stopped. Something about that bench was odd. There was definitely something behind it. Ryoma tried to squint through the rain, but still couldn't recognize what that "thing" was. He walked a little closer and an awful smell of blood came across his nose. He looked down and gasped loudly.

"RYUUZAKI!"

Lying there, unconscious, was Sakuno. Blood trickled from her head to her face and her lip was quivering.

Ryoma quickly scooped Sakuno up, and realized how cold she felt, despite how cold _he _felt. Ryoma hated himself for failing to give any warmth to her.

Ryoma ran towards the sushi restaurant. He wasn't exactly sure of the direction, but knew that if he kept on running, he was sure to come across civilization.

After seeing Sakuno when he came back from America, Ryoma had changed. He no longer thought of himself or tennis as number one, but now, his "number one" was Sakuno. Whether or not she like him, he knew that deep down, that after all the hurt he put her through, he should at least repay her with as much love he could possibly give.

Sakuno shifted a little in Ryoma's arms. Slowly, her eyes opened a bit, but she was still terribly weak. She had lost quite a bit of blood from her head, and was still soaked from the rain, which still hadn't stopped. Sakuno adjusted her eyes to see what was going on. She looked up and immediately saw _those _eyes staring at her. Sakuno gasped, but was too weak to only let out weak whisper. She realized she was moving, too. Confused, she asked, "what's going on?"

"Your awake, Ryuuzaki." Ryoma smiled. Sakuno didn't know why, but for some reason, Ryoma's smile seemed oddly…_warm. "_I found you unconscious and you head was bleeding. I'm going to take you to the restaurant, then we can call an ambulance." Ryoma explained, in between breaths, for he was still sprinting, trying to find his way through the rain.

Sakuno just gazed up at him. She was surprised at Ryoma's sudden act of kindness towards her. _Bleeding?, _she thought. For some reason, Sakuno didn't feel like there was a cut on her head, nor did she feel any plain. Yes, she did feel a little light-headed, but no pain. Strangely, her mind felt clear as well. Almost like a giant load of garbage was cleared from her brain. All of a sudden, Sakuno remembered what had happened, and, she also remembered what she admitted to herself… _the truth._

"Ryoma?" she whispered.

"Hm?" Ryoma replied, then stopped to see a gazebo a few feet away.

"Can we sit?" Sakuno asked, eyeing the gazebo as well. "You look really tired."

"Don't worry about me. You need to see a doctor." Ryoma answered.

"_Please, _Ryoma." Sakuno persisted. "We _need _to talk."

"If that's what you want." Ryoma said, knowing fully that he too needed to talk.

Ryoma carried Sakuno into the gazebo and placed her down on one of the benches. He sat down beside her, panting from running all this way.

"Ryoma…" Sakuno started. "I'm really sorry."

"Don't be. You have nothing to be sorry about." Ryoma smirked.

"Actually, I do." Sakuno sighed.

Ryoma was silent at Sakuno's second apology. He had to admit..he was curious.

"Listen, Ryoma. Right here, right now, i'm going to tell you _everything."_

* * *

**A/N- I HOPE YOU LIKED IT. grrr..i'm working on the next chapter (which might be the last), but i don't know what to put in it. **

**anyways, PLEASE REVIEW. **

**arigatou. **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N- YAY!! I finally managed to finish this last chapter. I'm just happy I finished it before Xmas. **

**O yea..and I'm just going to tell you that this chapter is really cheesy. And, like i said before, I was running out of ideas. **

**animelover11368: I tried to use your idea, but then it wasn't really working out. sorry. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own PoT.**  
**Well, after all that stupid nonsense talk, heres the last chapter. **

* * *

**AFTERWARDS **

**CHAPTER 4**

"Everything? About what?" Ryoma asked.

"Everything," Sakuno whispered, "About _you._"

"Me? Huh?" Ryoma was very confused. The girl seemed really serious about this situation and he wasn't making any sense out of anything she was talking about. Ok, he did know by now that she _had _this enormous crush on him in Seigaku, but she hated him now…right?

_Gahh..girls are confusing, he thought._

"Just listen." Sakuno told Ryoma. The tone of her voice seemed assuring, yet sad.

Ryoma leaned against the wall of the gazebo, ready to listen to what Sakuno was going to say.

_I have to tell him, _Sakuno thought.

"Well, your probably still wondering why I hate you right? Well, just know that the reason I hate you isn't because of anything you did. Its what you _didn't _do."

"Eh?"

"Okay, that was confusing…but you'll understand." Sakuno tried her best to explain to Ryoma. _Gee, this is harder than I thought, _she thought. She wanted to tell him the truth right away, but the truth _always_ hurts.

"Hn." Ryoma muttered.

"The reason I hate you is because…because…" Sakuno didn't want to say what she planned to tell Ryoma. All of a sudden, she felt the urge to cry. _Stand..err…sit strong, Sakuno, _she thought.

Ryoma looked at Sakuno to receive his explanation. Unfortunately, he never got one. Instead, Sakuno just stopped in the middle of her sentence, and began staring into nowhere. Abruptly, she jerked her head and snapped back to reality.

"G-Gomen!"

"Betsuni." Ryoma mumbled. _Did he say girls were weird? Okay, he was wrong, their pathetic. Still, he found himself falling in love with this particular one._

"I..Oh! What was I saying again?" Sakuno thought for a minute.

_I give up, I can't tell him, he wouldn't get it._

"Right. Uh, Ryoma, n-nevermind."

_Never mind? Tell me. Just hurry up and spill. _Ryoma thought, growing a bit unpatient.

"What."

"What?"

"Just say it."

_He really wants to know, doesn't he? _Sakuno thought.

She really didn't want to tell him the truth. It would make her sound selfish and most of all, it would be embarrassing. Still, she really _did _want to tell him, despite his reaction. She _needed _to tell somebody, otherwise, she would probably go mental.

"The reason…is because, well, you never changed. You were just, you. And I guess, I started to hate you for that." Sakuno started to look down at the floor. She noticed the wood seemed to be drying, and she realized that the rain had stopped. The roof was still dripping and the grass was still soggy, but the floorboards seemed to be resuming their natural color.

"So your saying its my fault." Ryoma concluded.

"No…well, yes…but no. It's your fault, but it's my fault, but mostly it's my fault, still I wouldn't have faulted if it wasn't for you, so it's your fault. But, my fault too." Sakuno thought about how her words just came out and realized she didn't know what she was talking about. _Get it together, Sakuno. Just tell him, stop stalling. _

"Errr..what?" Ryoma asked, confusingly. _Your fault…my fault, not your fault, my fault, still, your fault?,_ he thought, trying to see if he could make sense out of it.

"Gomen. That didn't come out right." Sakuno said. "I just wanted to say that it's kinda my fault and kinda your fault."

"sure.." Ryoma replied, hesitantly.

_Well, here goes.. Its now or never--_

"In short, the truth is…I-- "

At this point, Sakuno's head was throbbing. _Ow, _she thought. The blood from her wound had stopped bleeding for a while, but Sakuno knew that it was only temporary.

_Not again…not now…please. _

Slowly, she began to lose all sense of reality. And, though she was sitting, Sakuno began to shake from side to side, until finally, she collapsed. Lucky for her, she didn't collapse in the cold, hard surface of the floor of a van, nor did she collapse in the wet and muddy abyss of the dirt. Actually, this time, she collapsed in the warm and comforting lap of Echizen Ryoma.

"S-Sakuno?" Ryoma shook her a little.

She didn't move.

"Sakuno!!" Ryoma suddenly realized she had fainted…again, for the third time.

_This is really bad for her health, _he thought.

Ryoma scooped Sakuno up, bridal style, and rushed her out of the gazebo in to the darkness of the night. Luckily, the moon's blinding light lit his surroundings, and gave him a better sense of direction. Ryoma found the right way towards the restaurant and darted down the path.

Distinguishing the restaurant from all the other buildings was easy, considering the fact that Ryoma had been to the place so many times. He noticed that van was gone and all the lights were out. In fact, the lights were out around the whole street.

He came up to the door and slid it open. Stepping into the restaurant, he noticed it was deserted. Everyone had left.

Placing Sakuno on a cushion, Ryoma walked back to the door to keep it open. Since the light switch wouldn't work, he needed the moon's light to guide him around the place.

Trying to find a candle, Ryoma reached into a drawer, and immediately realized which drawer it was; the knife drawer. Seeing the blood trickle down his fingertips didn't affect him much, but it warned him of the dangers you could find in a sushi restaurant.

Opening drawer after drawer, and cabinet after cabinet grew tiresome, but in the end, Ryoma came across a thick candle stump. It didn't have that sickening scent that normal candles had. In fact, it had a sweet aroma to it, which wasn't too strong, nor was it too weak.

Ryoma also found a box of matches in the same drawer as he had found the candle in. He carefully lit the candle, and walked over to go shut the door.

Ryoma placed the candle on top of the table Sakuno was lying next to. Ryoma just sat there for a while, staring at Sakuno's unconscious body. He noticed how much more beautiful she had gotten.

_Five years, _he thought.

As Ryoma was lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice Sakuno starting to wake up.

"W-Where am I?"

Ryoma jerked a little at the sound of her voice, but then sighed that she had finally woken up.

"We're in Kawamura sushi."

"O-Oh… How long was I out?"

"Maybe an hour or so."

"oh.. Where's everyone else?"

"They probably left."

"I see."

There was an awkward silence amongst them.

Sakuno tried to adjust her eyes to the dark to check out her surroundings. She recalled the conversation she had with Ryoma at the gazebo and almost smacked herself for not telling him.

Then, Sakuno noticed the candle that was placed on the table. It was thick and quite tall. Sakuno realized the color of the candle; white.

"White is for magic." she muttered, without thinking about what she was saying.

"Hm?" Ryoma asked, confusingly.

"A-ano…I wasn't thinking." Sakuno replied. Still, she continued her thoughts. "I read in a book. White is for magic. _True _magic."

"True?"

"Yeah. True is kind of like purity and there's a difference between good and pure. Not everything good is necessarily pure." Sakuno explained.

Sakuno was totally lost in the mesmerizing lights from the candle, causing her to forget all about what she was going to tell Ryoma. It was almost as if she was possessed by the flames.

"A difference?" Ryoma hated it when he didn't understand things. But this girl had gave him the most confusing day of a lifetime.

"Yup." Sakuno smiled. She was still locked in by the flames of the candle. Forgetting all that she felt towards Ryoma, Sakuno explained, "In the book, I remember, there were these two people. They both loved each other so they lit a white candle, which signified purity. Then, they kissed and by doing this, they declared their love for each other and that was supposedly _pure._" All of a sudden, Sakuno snapped out of her trance.

_Then, they kissed and by doing this, they declared their love for each other and that was supposedly pure. _

"Oh my god."Sakuno replayed what she just said. _oh my god. _Sakuno placed her hand over her mouth to stop herself from saying "oh my god", otherwise, she would probably go on forever. Instead, she said it over and over again in her head. _oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. _

"I--G-Gomen, Ryoma. Its just…the book. I--" Sakuno tried to make up excuses, but she knew they were no good. Sakuno was never good at lying, and she knew that the true reason she thought of that book, was because she wished those two people were her and Ryoma.

"Che." Ryoma muttered. Swiftly, he took his chance, and grabbed Sakuno's hand from off her mouth. He leaned in, and gave her a nice long kiss on the lips. Sensing the warmth boiling inside her, Ryoma smirked, knowing that he had reached his goal.

Sakuno stared wide-eyed at Ryoma. She wasn't very shy any more, but Sakuno never dealt with _true _love. Honestly, she wasn't an expert at this kind of stuff, so when Ryoma just _kissed _her…well, Sakuno didn't know how to react.

Seeing that Sakuno wasn't going to speak up anytime soon, Ryoma nonchalantly said, "So…pure enough?"

"R-Ryoma, why?"

"Well, I wished you had known by now…" Ryoma urged. He loved the girl, but he wasn't the kind of person to be giving these confessions. Usually, he was the one receiving them.

"Known what?" Sakuno was still a bit confused. She loved Ryoma, but she hadn't confessed to him yet. Also, she thought Ryoma thought that she hated him. She hadn't even given him the reason yet.

Ryoma took a breath. Either she guessed the reason he kissed her, or, he wouldn't tell her at all. Seriously, after he saved her, carried her at least three miles, listened to her little stories, and _kissed _her, how could she not figure out his feelings towards him? Still, he wanted to tell her really bad, its just, well…stupid ego. Anyways, what was the point. The girl hated him. Yet, he couldn't help feeling that for some odd reason, she was lying.

"Since you really don't know, there's no need for me to tell you."

"Eh? That doesn't make any sense."

"It does now. Anyways," Ryoma smirked, "You still haven't told me why you hate me yet."

Hearing this, Sakuno sat up straight. "Oh. Okay. Well, then when I tell you, you have to tell me why you--you know….got it?"

Ryoma thought about it for a minute. _Better now than later…I guess._

"Here." Sakuno reached into her pocket and took out a crumpled piece of paper. She opened it and all it said was some modeling competition she should check out. Sakuno carefully ripped that section off. Then, she tore her remaining piece of paper in two. "Do you happen to have two pens..or anything to write with?"

Arching an eyebrow, Ryoma reached into his pocket; empty. He got up, and went through some drawers in the kitchen. Finally, he found the drawer that held all of the writing utensils. He picked out two blue ball point pens, and handed them to Sakuno.

"You keep one. Just to make sure one of us doesn't chicken out…, I think we should write down our answers to each other's questions on the paper. Then, we can exchange." Sakuno said. Frankly, she wasn't very fond of confessing to Ryoma by mouth, so she thought of just writing it down on a piece of paper.

"Betsuni." Ryoma replied. _At least he didn't have to physically say **it** now…_

"Okay then…lets get started." Sakuno handed Ryoma his paper, and she took her pen.

Palms sweating, Sakuno etched the words: "_The reason I hate you is because I love you." _onto the paper.

Nervous, but not showing any sign of it, Ryoma quickly scribbled the words: _"The reason I kissed you is because I love you." _onto the paper.

Both looked up, and gave each other an intense, yet satisfying glance. Slowly but surely, they handed each other the paper.

Unfortunately, the flames of the candle were very tall, and as Sakuno exchanged her paper with Ryoma, it caught on fire. Even worse, the flames coming from Sakuno's paper touched Ryoma's…and his caught on fire as well.

"Damn it." Sakuno uttered. Hurriedly, she scanned over Ryoma's paper.

"Shit." Ryoma thought. He looked at Sakuno's neatly written sentence on the paper.

As the flames began to turn the paper to ashes, Ryoma and Sakuno both stared at each other, neither of them saying a single word.

Once the flames finally died down, Sakuno let out a sigh of relief, but quickly, her heart began pumping again at maximum speed.

_"The reason I kissed you is because I love you." _

Sakuno couldn't help thinking that this was all a joke, but Ryoma had clearly written those exact words. Unless she was hallucinating, those words were _real._

Sakuno let out a little laugh. It was one of those laughs where you want to cry, but end up laughing…then you start crying.

Ryoma, after digesting what he had just read, sat there, staring at Sakuno's tear streaming face.

"Ry-Ryoma…" Sakuno sniffled. "I-I don't know--"

Ryoma placed a finger on Sakuno's lips. "You love me?"

Sakuno managed a little smile. "Well…I--"

Once again, Ryoma interrupted her, "Then why did you say you hated me?"

"Because I--" Sakuno started, but was immediately halted by the sudden feeling of lips pressing against hers.

After breaking apart, Ryoma looked at Sakuno, smiling. "Do you know what I wrote on my piece of paper?"

Sakuno nodded slightly, still wanting more from the kiss.

Ryoma smirked. He leaned in again, almost reading her mind. This time, kissing deeper into Sakuno's soft lips.

Sakuno closed her eyes, and erased all her memories of the five years Ryoma was gone. She thought she could live without this kid, but, once again, she was proved wrong.

Sakuno mentally smacked herself at the thought of marrying Ryoma, but she couldn't help thinking about their future. And, for some odd reason, she felt that no matter what happened, _this _time, Ryoma would always be by her side.

**THE END**

* * *

**A/N- ha. that sucked big time. but i really didn't know what to do with the ending. uhm..also, that pure magic crap all belongs to Mrs.Stolarz. its from the series called Blue is for Nightmare. And, the book is literally called, White is for Magic. lol. I just finished reading it and I really wanted to somehow sneak it into my story. It didn't work out as well as I wanted it to, but whatever. I'm going to try to improve my stories in the future...hopefully, they'll turn out better.**

**I hope you all review. And thanks for reading this story. Its my first one and I really appreaciate it when people actually read and give me comments about my writing. I love you guys **


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